Rebels thankful for shutout in Spokane after OT loss at home

Friday and Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend bore very different results for Castlegar's Jr. B KIJHL squad as it completed a home and home set with the Spokane Braves. The Rebels lost at home 4-3 in overtime on Friday and won 3-0 on Saturday in Spokane.

Connor Bowen tries to stick-handle through the Spokane defenders during Friday's game at the Complex. Jim Sinclair photo.

"Overall, I think as expected there were some good things that we did that we are getting better at and some things that we obviously still need some work at," said Rebel coach Steve Junker.
Friday night at the Castlegar Community Complex the Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to be eclipsed 4-3 by their guests in overtime.
Scoring goals for Castlegar were Diego Bartlett and Stuart Walton in the first period, and Tyler Jones in the third. Zak Kroll picked up the game winner for Spokane at 4:08 of O.T.
"We let it slip away. We started doing some things we liked but then got away from our game plan and gave up a two goal lead," said Junker. "We want to be tough to play against. That's one thing that has to be a part of every hockey player's (repertoire). You have to be tough to play against. If you're not - all you're going to do is allow other teams to do what they want."
Saturday's game saw the Canadian visitors make a definitive statement with a 3-0 win. After a scoreless first period, Bartlett got the Rebs on the scoreboard with a goal assisted by Arthur Andrews and Peter Mingus.
Brendan Heinrich put Castlegar up 2-0 at 8:58 of the second period, assisted by Dylan Houle and Tyler Robinson. Bryce Eviston scored a short-handed empty netter with 1:25 of the third period to seal the victory for the Rebels. Assisting on Eviston's goal were Bartlett and Andrews.
"It was a much better effort on Saturday," said Junker. "We stuck to the game plan a little bit more."
Alex Ross picked up the shutout for Castlegar, turning away 26 shots.
"He played solid," said Junker. "I thought our guys played solid in front of him as far as defensively. It was a nice way to finish the weekend. It was definitely disappointing not getting two points on Friday night but we were able to get a win on the weekend and head into another week of work."
That does it for the Rebels until Friday, Oct. 14 when they'll travel to Creston Valley for a date with the Thundercats. On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Rebs play an inter-divisional game in Fruitvale against Beaver Valley.
Following Thanksgiving weekend action the Rebels were solid occupants of third place in the KIJHL's Neil Murdoch division with 11 points, seven clear of fourth place Spokane and trailing front-running Nelson (17 points) and second place Beaver Valley (14 points).